Landream buying Craigieburn site for $90m

By marc pallisco

2 March 2018 — 7:00am

A lucky local family with the insight to buy an enormous and strategic block in Craigieburn, when the northern suburb was mostly farmland, has sold it, for a price believed to be more than $90 million.

The irregular shaped 153 hectare block known as 750 Craigieburn Road East, is understood to be trading to China-based builder Landream following a campaign launched six months ago by RPM Real Estate’s Christian Ranieri, Zaynoun Melhem and Peter Kilkenny.

About 26 kilometres north of town, near the Craigieburn train station, only 97 hectares of the parcel can be replaced with housing; it has the potential to make way for about 1700 dwellings accommodating more than 4000 residents.

According to the City of Hume council, the municipality’s population is expected to surge 66 per cent to 2041, to more than 372,000 people.

Once an outskirt suburb, Craigieburn is now a major activity centre which has attracted some of the country’s biggest developers to construct residential and commercial stock.

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Last month, Sydney based developer Stockland listed the suburb’s Highlands Shopping Centre for sale with price expectations of about $40 million.

The median price for a three bedroom house in Craigieburn’s is just over $500,000, according to Domain Group Data – up more than $100,000 since 2015 and from a cyclical low of $342,000 six years ago.

Last year, local developer JTX banked a reported $12 million selling a 32-hectare site in 650-700 Hume Highway, Craigieburn, with permission for it to be replaced with a business park, medical centre, office, homemaker centre and 12-level, 285 suite hotel.

Four months ago, Chinese developer Dahua Group purchased more than 110 hectares in Wollert, the next suburb east of Craigieburn and in the immediate vicinity of 750 Craigieburn Road East.

In January, Michael Goldthorp’s development company Wolfdene paid a reported $100 million for a 200 hectare site at 960 Donnybrook Road, Donnybrook, about six kilometres north of Craigieburn.

In February, several large land sites were listed, including a 60 hectare parcel at 1135 Leakes Road, Tarneit, which is expected to sell for about $80 million after a Biggin & Scott Land campaign.

North west of town, at 525 Sunbury Road, Bulla, a 160-hectare parcel with the potential to be subdivided into more than a thousand residential lots, is being marketed by Magree Property Advisory. A 76-hectare block in Gisborne was also listed, by Savills, and is expected to trade for more than $50 million.

In the CBD, Landream recently unveiled plans to replace a low-rise office at 600 Collins Street with a unique 54-level hotel and office building – designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, whose founder, Dame Zaha Hadid, died in 2016.

Amazon neighbour sells

An investment grade industrial asset – next door to Amazon’s first Australian fulfilment centre – is selling for a speculated price of more than $14 million.

A building next to Amazon's Dandenong warehouse is for sale.

The Dandenong South factory at 31-41 National Drive was offered with vacant possession. It is speculated to be selling to an investor in the wholesale pet food business, which occupies another industrial property in the suburb.

The 2.8 hectare holding includes a 6574 square metre warehouse, 905 square metre office, hardstand area and a large car park, monitored by CCTV security.

German based construction equipment and services provider Wacker Neuson was the vendor; it paid $12.2 million for the then-vacant asset in 2015 to owner-occupy.

CBRE selling agents Stephen Adgemis, James Jorgensen and David Aiello marketed the property.

Developed within Pellicano’s M2 Business Park, the factory is next door to the 7.7 hectare, 24,387 square metre ex-Bunnings distribution centre which Amazon leased as its first Australian fulfilment centre last year.

12-storeys for beside Pelaco sign

Another Richmond icon could soon be surrounded by apartments.

This time, it is the Pelaco sign, in Goodwood Street, which may lose surrounding aspect.

The Pelaco sign may soon be surrounded by apartments.

The owner of the neighbouring 1484 square metre site at 195 Lennox Street, which paid more than $9 million for it only last year, have applied to build two apartment buildings. The tallest proposed tower, rising 12-storeys, will be almost the same height as the Pelaco sign, which sits on a five storey warehouse.

On the site, the historic former Tas Pickett Pty Ltd Tobacco Factory will be demolished, but a two-storey Victorian era mansion, retained.

The proposal on top of Richmond Hill, which also includes a five-storey building, will contain a total of 29 dwellings.

The property was offloaded by two directors associated with Tract Consultants, who coincidentally are working with owner Flagship Property Holdings to replace the site.

Elsewhere in Richmond, developer Caydon is planning to build apartments on the prominent silos site, north of the Yarra River.

Several years ago, developers build apartments on the Swan Street site of the Dimmeys clock tower, which was retained.

Directly north-east of the Tas Pickett Pty Ltd Tobacco Factory site, a seven-level apartment building is mooted to replace the site known as 150-152 Bridge Road.

A 13-storey apartment complex, containing 177 dwellings, and known as Dux Richmond Hill, is mooted for 153-165 Bridge Road – the site of the Old Greek Theatre.

Part of the Richmond Plaza is also mooted for an 11-storey complex containing 333 apartments.

Former HQ reoffered

The former headquarters of the Melbourne operation of global web solutions company Exa, which collapsed two years ago, is for sale or lease.

At 1186 Toorak Road, Camberwell, the double-storey 660 square metre office is being marketed for lease by Teska Carson’s Luke Bisset. It is also being marketed for sale by HAIM Real Estate, with a price guide of between $6.7 million and $7.3 million.

Next door, a near new four-storey office at 1180 Toorak Road, Camberwell, sold to a South Australian syndicate, Harmony Corporation, for $7.1 million in mid-2016 following an off-market campaign.

Historic Thornbury site fetches $9m

The former Northcote Cable Tramways site, which is in Thornbury, has sold for $9 million.

The former Northcote Cable Tramways site has sold for $9 million.

Marketed as an investment, but with residential redevelopment potential, 626-628 High Street last traded for $5.4 million in mid-2015.

The marketing agents this time – ASL Real Estate’s Andrew Soliman and Guido Bonanni - touted the block with concept plans for a mixed-use project.

On a 2409 square metre site at the north east corner of Martin Street, the holding is adjacent to a tram stop and also walking distance to both the Croxton and Thornbury train stations.

The brick ex-tramways building, which was rendered green for a period until a few years ago, is currently fully tenanted and returning $346,500 yearly with fixed 4 per cent annual rental increases.

Next door at 630 High Street, Thornbury, the new Hive Apartments complex rises seven storeys.

The 10-storey Acacia complex in Northcote is also nearby. Developed in 2009, the 34-metre tower was one of the first and most controversial high density complexes proposed after the now redundant Melbourne 2030 policy (which was released in 2002).